To hear Chen tell it, the bra industry is as good a barometer as any to examine China's manufacturing sector. And he can tell you better than any Wharton School economist which of his markets went wobbly first, when, who followed, who's been hit hardest – and who is likely to be the slowest to recover.
In its first year of operation in Yanbu, Lo's factory employed 2,000 workers, produced 14 million bras and shipped 12 million to the United States. Washington responded with a quota on Chinese-made bras.
Chen says he first felt the tremors in the market about this time last year.
"U.S. orders started to cut back," he said. "We had an inkling something like this could happen."
With declining demand, those buying began to clamour for a 15 per cent price cut.
Chen says his companies obliged, helped by a decline in oil prices.
"We could offset about 6 or 7 per cent due to price declines in oil. But the rest we had to eat," he says.
http://www.thestar.com/article/675685
No puns intended of course in any of this read.
In its first year of operation in Yanbu, Lo's factory employed 2,000 workers, produced 14 million bras and shipped 12 million to the United States. Washington responded with a quota on Chinese-made bras.
Chen says he first felt the tremors in the market about this time last year.
"U.S. orders started to cut back," he said. "We had an inkling something like this could happen."
With declining demand, those buying began to clamour for a 15 per cent price cut.
Chen says his companies obliged, helped by a decline in oil prices.
"We could offset about 6 or 7 per cent due to price declines in oil. But the rest we had to eat," he says.
http://www.thestar.com/article/675685
No puns intended of course in any of this read.
